Les Feuilles Mortes
by xBeautifulTragedy
Summary: Severus Snape describes his once loved season, which now has become his most hated. One-shot


_A/N This was written for the Four Seasons competition by Rosalie'sRevenge. (:_

_**Les Feuilles Mortes**_

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_**Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ~Stanley Horowitz**_

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Severus Snape walked outside only to be greeted by a cool breeze and a leaf flying in his face. He grumbled as he grabbed the leaf and crushed it in his hands.

First day of autumn. He merely turned around on his heels and walked back inside the grand Hogwarts castle. His shoes clicking with each step.

He always hated autumn except for in one period in his life. The smell, the bareness of the trees, the cold, returning to work, it all was associated with autumn. This particular day always brought back memories, once so wonderful, but now he would give anything to forget it all.

He was eleven, and in his first year at Hogwarts. It was only a few weeks after the term started, so he still had no one except for his best friend, Lily Evans.

He roamed the castle alone, not quite sure where he was at the moment. He was used to being alone so it never bothered him, but now he was lost. So being alone wasn't his choice at the moment. He tried find his way outside so he could at least not be inside the castle by himself.

He turned a corner and bumped straight into someone, knocking him back. He looked up, ready to yell at whomever caused him to fall, but realized it was none other than Lily.

"Sev! Are you alright?" His best friend said as she helped him get up.

"Oh yeah, fine. What are you doing in this part of the castle?" Severus asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

"We're near the Entrance Hall, it's not an uncommon place to walk around." Lily finished with a slight giggle.

"Oh..." His face started to burn bright pink.

"Well come on! I was actually just looking for you." She grabbed his hand and started to run.

He fumbled a bit but managed to keep up. They made their way outside and once they were out there Severus shivered. The coolness of fall certainly hadn't waited a few more days to arrive. He let go of her hand and stood awkwardly outside as Lily turned around to face him.

She had the goofiest grin on her face as she danced back up to him.

"What are you so happy about?" Severus asked with discontent.

"It's the first day of autumn!" She grabbed a pile of leaves and threw some at Severus.

"I hate autumn." The little boy said with a scowl on his face. "It's cold, summer's over, we have to go back to school, it just all around sucks."

"What?" Lily looked shocked. Her green eyes were wide and her mouth hung open. "It's the best season there is!" She stomped her foot.

"What's so great about it?"

"What's so great about it? Just look around Sev!" He looked around but all he saw was the sun setting and dead trees blowing about. What was so great about that? The possibilities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the horizon.

"Sure it means summer's over, and it starts to get cold, but there is so much more to it! See this leaf?" She picked up a red leaf that had fallen on the ground. Severus noticed how it matched her fire red hair perfectly. "It's like you and me. It was so used to being on the tree and being green, just like how we were used to being plain old muggles. That was our life just how being on the tree was this leaf's life. But then we received our letters and we came here. It's a new chapter in our life and we are new people, just as this leaf is growing up. It's changing colors and becoming beautiful. After the highest point in it's life, it helps the ground. Just how we will help the world one day, you and me."

Severus stood there for a second looking at the leaf. "...It's just a leaf."

"Sev!" She pouted once again. "Okay maybe that wasn't the best analogy. But just look around you. At the moment it's not cold yet, but you can feel a slight breeze that seems to nip at your nose, but it's a nice change to the hot days before. Then look at the trees. They are the most beautiful colors. Red, orange, yellow, it all is perfect and it accents the sky just right. If anything, it's the most beautiful time of the year. That's why I'm excited that it's autumn."

Severus simply looked at her with a confused expression. He wanted to understand where she was coming from, he really did. But when he looked out, all he saw was the depressing atmosphere. The color changing in the leaves was a sign of them dying. Them helping the earth? Who wants to look at their death as fertilizing the planet?

He tried to understand and so from that day on, every single day Lily would come up with another reason why autumn was absolutely perfect.

Eventually Severus began to see the beauty in autumn as well. In autumn there tended to be more thunderstorms, which was his favorite part. Most people would frown upon thunderstorms, but not Lily.

She embraced them. The crack of the thunder, to her, was so special. One can only hear that exact sound during a thunderstorm, so she thought they should cherish the sound. She was amazed by the powerful effect, the loud roaring, it could have on the earth.

She always said how it encouraged her to do great things, because if something so little as thunder could be loud and make an impact, so could one person.

That and the beautiful scenery change were the two main reasons she used when she tried to change Severus' mind about autumn.

After their first autumn at Hogwarts, he began to look forward to it more. Lily was at her happiest, and on the days that they were apart, the colors, the smell, and just the _feel_ of it, reminded him of her.

Her presence was always with him even if she wasn't physically there. But then he would see her the next day, he always knew.

Then one day, October 31st, his autumn was taken away from him. Lily Evans was gone and he knew he would never see the love of his life, ever again.

But the worst part of it all? The most ironically cruel part? Autumn, once his favorite season, is now his most hated; his most dreaded.

Like most things, one can simply walk away if one doesn't like something. But not him, he can't walk away from the decaying leaves, the smell of the wind, or the coolness settling in. He hates those three months more than ever now. He is reminded of his past, his mistakes, and his regrets every single day in autumn.

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End file.
